Kingston mayor seeks reform after snow problems

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 2:00 AM

KINGSTON — Mayor Shayne Gallo says he'll introduce a package of reforms in the wake of recent snowstorms and his call for a 72-hour State of Emergency that brought a wave of complaints into City Hall last week.

James Nani

KINGSTON — Mayor Shayne Gallo says he'll introduce a package of reforms in the wake of recent snowstorms and his call for a 72-hour State of Emergency that brought a wave of complaints into City Hall last week.

Gallo called the three-day State of Emergency starting Feb. 20 after a snowstorm on Feb. 13-14 dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas on top of large snowdrifts that already slammed the city.

The declaration meant no cars could park on city streets for days, but forced many to scramble to try to find parking throughout the city.

Complaints from residents started coming in to City Hall the day before Gallo made the declaration and followed well into Thursday. Now, Gallo says he'll introduce measures next month to deal with some of the complaints.

Gallo says he wants to introduce signs in municipal lots stating you can only park in them for 24 hours.

Gallo said residents and people have been storing vehicles and trailers in city lots for extended periods of time, crowding out other vehicles for space and making plowing difficult.

"It's selfish and given what we experienced with the snow, it's despicable," Gallo said.

Gallo says he also wants to increase the use of alternate-side parking in snow emergencies. A pilot program has already been in effect in Midtown for about a year.

Alderman Matt Dunn says he looks forward to seeing the DPW report on the effectiveness of the pilot program. He said the Council previously hadn't been convinced that alternate-side parking was a problem throughout the whole city.

"That's why we did the pilot program," Dunn said.

Gallo also wants to dismiss tickets for vehicles that parked in Uptown municipal lots on Feb. 5-6. The snowstorm from then dropped nearly a foot of snow on the region. On top of that, he also wants the city to reimburse people for towing fees because they were only given an hour's notice to move their cars on those days.

Dunn said he was concerned about the towing reimbursement proposal, because it could be seen as playing favoritism and doesn't know the costs and legal issues it may raise. He says he's willing to hear the mayor's proposal though.